Strand Ocean Drive Suites — Hotel in Miami Beach

We stayed at this place six years ago and loved it. Despite being in a loud section of party central, it was clean and we loved that the room was a suite with a large living room and kitchenette you can cook in. So we thought we'd return. WHAT IN THE WORLD HAS HAPPENED HERE?!||||FILTHY:||||It's hard to know where to start as so much is wrong. Let's start here - the place if filthy. The room looked as if it had not been cleaned in years. Hair (not ours) was all over the floor, the walls were banged up, the glass on the sliding doors was full of god-knows-what, the widows were so dirty that you couldn't enjoy the view (if you have one of the two rooms that has one). The bathroom was full of mold. The large soaking tub that we so enjoyed last time was without a way to fill it - they simply removed the plumbing - not that you'd want to bathe in it as it was also filthy. The drain was out of place and one end of it had perma-dirt. The mattress had visible greasy dirt all over the edges. We decided to go to the store, buy a bunch of cleaning supplies and scrub the place ourselves. I borrowed a vacuum and did the shag rug pulling up tons of hair and some sort of waxy substance that might have been bong resin.||||LACK OF UPKEEP:||||There were no working lights in the bedroom, none. The kitchenette walls were badly stained and greasy. One of the living room windows leaked so badly that rain pooled on the floor beneath it. The sliding pocket doors were off their track and did not close properly. The tub had shifted somehow so that it was askew. The pots and pans were all rusty. There was next to no basic utensils as stated. The toilet barely worked. The bathroom sink clogged after the first use.||||THE PARKING FIASCO:||||Even this listing says that there is paid parking - there is not. I parked where they advised me (a ramp behind the hotel) and told the staff there when leaving on the first day (as instructed) that I was staying at the Congress/Strand. They said curtly that they do not have an arrangement with that hotel and charged me $130 for one night. You read that correctly. $130.||||NO SERVICE:||||Be advised that you get no housekeeping while you are there. We stayed 8 nights on this trip and each day had to go beg for fresh towels and TP. Not once did anyone clean or change the sheets.||||NOISE:||||This place is right next to and above a popular party bar called “Palace” that hosts a nightly (more like early morning) drag show that goes until 3:00 am. It is LOUD, I mean like it's in your room loud. Add to that that the south end of South Beach has gone to hell in a handbasket. Two people were murdered on the beach a night before we arrived so the police had basically staked out the entire area from 14th Street south. Pretty much every night a giant crowd comes over from Miami to party in this area tying up traffic and overrunning the area. Many of them bring drugs and their own loud music with them. Gangs are also widely visible in the area. ||||THE POOL:||||Another thing we loved last time was the rooftop pool which has a beautiful view of the ocean. The cabanas and chairs that were there last time are long gone - replaced by a daily dose of filth. The reason? The “Palace” downstairs now runs the bar on the roof that used to be exclusive to guests. It's is now a rooftop club starting as early as 11:00 am and going until the wee hours of the morning. As such you get to share the pool area with the most unsavory folks you can imagine. What do I mean by unsavory? Well, the guy next to us was bragging to his counterpart that he is in the "sex industry." After a few days I came to recognize that he worked downstairs and was using the pool as his personal bathtub and the bathroom at the pool as his personal bathroom.||||Trying to get to the pool early doesn't work either because the filth from the night before remains until just before 11:00 when someone comes and pressure washes the entire area.||||And don't even think of bringing a kid to this pool because starting at 11:00 am they blast "music" laced with profanity and vulgarity. I'm no prude but how many F-bombs and references to anal sex does a "song" need?||||THE STAFF:||||I can sum this up in two words. 1. Indifferent 2. Uninformed. Couldn't be much worse.||||I could go on and on but this should be enough to convince you to move on. Saving a few bucks to stay at this place will cost you your hide. With so many lovely places to stay I only hope I saved you from...

Great, prime location but service, marketing, room needs TLC 1.) CHECKING IN- Our flight was early so we showed up at 12:30pm. Our check in was for 3:30pm, so understandably, our rooms were not ready. We dropped off our luggage and decided to go out for a bite to eat, with the promise that someone will contact us as soon as the rooms were cleaned. Great! Except no one called us. We went back in at 5:30pm to see what's up, the shift had changed and there was a young man at reception. He was super apologetic to us, even though it was his team member that dropped the ball. We were just ready to get into our rooms at that point. We were then told to the building next door (1036 Ocean Dr) and go up there, because that is where our room would be. I was surprised because that was not at all indicated on the reservation. We were also asked to present the same credit card used for booking; the card was already charged and owners confirmed the booking had gone through... but reception stated its policy to make a paper copy along with writing down the CVV.... I'm not sure how that is secure at all! 2.) BEWARE OF WHAT IS ADVERTISED WHEN BOOKING. We booked at 1052 Ocean Drive, with a view. I looked through the pictures upon selecting my room (see attached pics of what I was expecting the view to be), and went forward with payment. We were instead placed in 1036 Ocean Drive "The Congress" which had no balconies out front or side as the pictures claimed. The room itself did look like the pictures but the "balcony" advertised is less then a foot out, you have to squeeze yourself out there just to stand outside. The "view" advertised is actually an alleyway of dirty, cracked cement balconies across the way with a dumpster right below. If I wanted to book at the Congress I would have chosen that, but I didn't. 3.) There is NO regular housekeeping. We generally opt out of this so this was not a huge deal, except- since the beach is right across the street, of course we were trekking in sand everywhere. No one comes by to vacuum or sweep, (to owners) we recommend at least leaving a cheapie small vacuum in one of the linen closets so guests can clean up better. We did at least have fresh towels and soaps dropped off at our door and trash was picked up (there was no "DO NOT DISTURB" sign provided so housekeeping had walked in while we were away, thanks for taking out the trash but that is not okay.) 4.) Small fixtures around the room- The bathroom lighting is really bad. I can barely see myself in the mirror because of super dim and yellow cheap lighting in a windowless bathroom. The sliding doors separating the bathroom and the bedroom do not close all the way. Leaving a half inch gap in between the doors, able to even clearly see the person sleeping...where is the sense of privacy? If you are taking a shower after 4pm, your water WILL be cold- So aim for early morning. 5.) Neighborhood- right next door to one of the largest LGBTQ bars in Miami, The Palace. Loud music, singing, smoking blunts out in the open, and crowds of people late into the night. People in balconies across the alleyway blasting music until 3:30am. No control over this. No one has morals and decency to people around them, I guess Miami has turned into doing whatever the heck you want, whenever you want.

Reply to owner reply: The Congress name is still sitting on the 1036 building, hence the added confusion. It should be taken down since its been years of being renamed, no? I booked at 1052 Strand Ocean, but was placed in 1036 building- which was not mentioned on the confirmation. The booking site only states "view" included with your attached pictures of the beach from that specific suite, it does not have partial view or no view...

I’ll be completely honest & point out all the Pros & Cons for this place. Pros LOCATION! Now this can also be a con for some. This place is right on Ocean Dr. in the middle of everything & also our room C402 was directly above The Palace Bar, which is why we came to South Beach. Expect loud music & the most amazing Drag shows in the country!! Bring ear plugs to sleep, it helps. There is a small pool on the roof with a bar. The owners of this unit are very responsive if you need something so the service is EXCELLENT. Huge wrap around balcony with amazing views of the beach & water & Lummas Park is right out front, another balcony off the bedroom as well. There is a full kitchen with everything you need to even cook, which was nice. Check in was easy & staff are polite. They offer beach towels for a $10 deposit & you can rent chairs & umbrellas on the beach which is convenient.

Cons This place felt like somewhere I would go to for Spring Break in college. Don’t expect Hilton or even the Holiday Inn, it’s more Travel Lodge as far as furnishings throughout. It was somewhat clean but my clean white socks were black after a few hours of arriving. One of the patio forts did not lock, we just wedged a chair so it couldn’t be opened. The ceiling in the kitchen where the AC unit is & in the bathroom were spotted black with mildew from old leaks. The walls/door were dirty, you can just see it isn’t taken care of that well. The shower curtain like in a nice hotel that can be easily removed & washed, you could tell hadn’t been washed in months. A couple outlets did not work, I tested the GFI switches but that didn’t help. I saw this in other reviews so I expected it so I would just move the coffee pot into the living room. I’m from New Orleans, it’s hot there just like Miami & I like a cold place especially when I sleep. The AC unit which was just serviced the owner said, struggled to keep up & the owners suggest you don’t put the thermostat below 72 😳 ouch, after speaking with them they said 70 was ok. We requested a fan which was delivered promptly & the thermostat reading on this fan said a solid 76-78 while the thermostat on the wall said 70, I believed the fan but the room was bearable. It was cooler in the living room so we pushed the couches together & slept in there. The toilet paper, 1 ply & like tree bark, bring some with you. There was also no stopper in the tub, I’m sure I could have requested & received one from the owner had I really needed it. The pool is also open to the public so it’s not for relaxing & was always too busy for us to use.

Overall, for $1,087 for 3 nights, in my opinion I thought was overpriced considering everything. I wouldn’t stay there again only because I’m 43 now & prefer something more than a spring break crash pad js but this could be exactly what you’re...